5 Tips for Planning the Ultimate Engagement Party

May 30, 2017

Congratulations! You’ve found the love of your life and you’ve agreed to spend the rest of your lives together. You’ve most likely announced your engagement to your friends and family and have been inundated with congratulations from your nearest and dearest. Now that you and your spouse are bringing two families together, an engagement party is the perfect way to introduce your friends and both families to each other, whilst enjoying each other’s company and celebrating your betrothal. Whether you want a glamorous engagement party, or an intimate and understated affair, your engagement party should be a memorable one as you will be announcing and setting the tone for your wedding. Here are 5 tips from our expert wedding planner to ensure you host the ultimate engagement party.

1. Choose the date and venue for your party

Before you do anything, it is important to choose the date of your engagement party and then the venue you wish for it to be held at. Once this is done, you can send out invitations.

The venue you choose to have your engagement party at should cater to exactly what you want to do. If you want to have a grand dinner party, then a private function room in a luxurious hotel or private dining party at home will be perfect for this. If you’d like to have your engagement party surrounded by an exotic beach, then a destination event would be perfect. Transforming a venue into a nightclub or cocktail bar means that your closest family and friends can mingle in a gorgeous surrounding, whilst sipping on delicious champagne cocktails.

Make sure the venue you choose will let you decorate it to make it personal to you and your partner. This is especially important if you want to throw a themed engagement party. Sometimes decorating a venue to suit a theme can be quite difficult and time consuming, which is where our party planners can come in and help you!

2. Plan the menu

If your engagement party consists of an open bar in a luxurious cocktail venue, then there is no need to have a seven-course meal. However, canapes or bowl foods are always a good idea - especially if guests can be expected to drink a little alcohol. Should your engagement party be a dinner party then the food should be something more than what could be made at home. Alongside this, the menu should cater to religious needs, vegetarians, vegans and celiacs, so that everyone can fully enjoy their meal. Make the menu special - if you decide to go for South American food then pair it with margaritas. If you want to go for a three-course roast dinner, then get the perfect wine that will compliment it. After all, food is the way to the heart of your guests.

3. Set the scene

The venue you choose to host your engagement party in should reflect who you are as a couple. If you already know the colour scheme of your wedding, then your engagement party could keep in theme with the wedding. However, you could plan an engagement party that is a completely different theme to your wedding as it will be a nice and welcome change to the big day. Flowers are also a great way to decorate any room and tie the theme together!

4. Plan the entertainment

Your engagement party should have some form of entertainment, as it will inject some fun. An orchestra will sound great against the backdrop of a black tie six course meal. A first class DJ will suit a nightclub setting with an after dinner bar. Artists such as fire breathers, dancers and circus performers are a great attribute to any engagement party. Professional party planners such as Scarlet Events can help you ensure you book the entertainment well in advance, for you to be able to get the performer of your choice.

5. Choose what to wear

The theme of the engagement party will dictate what you wear at your engagement party. Don’t wear a ball gown to a relaxed garden party, or turn up to a black-tie event in jeans and a T-Shirt. Both of you should make an effort, and dress up to suit the theme of your engagement party, and if you want your guests to adhere to a specific dress code then make sure it is mentioned on the invitation.